As lesbian, gay, biintercourseual and transgender (LGBT) advocates across France celebrated the country's decision to legalize gay marriage Tuesday (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/france-gay-marriage-law-_n_3139470.html), a homophobic backlash found an outlet on social media platforms.
Beginning in the evening, the hashtags #MortAuxGay ("death to gays") and #ilfauttuerleshomointercourseuels ("we must kill all gays") began showing up on Twitter.
According to a Twitter Trending Topics page, #MortAuxGay was a trending term (http://en.trending-topic.com/countries/France/topics/hashtag-MortAuxGay/) in France on Tuesday. AmericaBlog also took a screenshot of Twitter's trending terms list (http://americablog.com/2013/04/death-to-gays-hashtag-trending-in-france-following-passage-of-gay-marriage-law-today.html).
As the term gained notoriety, many French users took to Twitter to criticize their homophobic countrymen, (https://twitter.com/TushieMonster/status/326768941584220161) but initially, the hashtag was used to convey anti-gay sentiment.
#MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay)
— L'ŒIL DE MOSCOU (@femmeducrepuscl) April 23, 2013 (https://twitter.com/femmeducrepuscl/status/326762714296885249)
Pour le bien de notre société #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay)
— La Naissance du Mal (@PefraDeSomation) April 23, 2013 (https://twitter.com/PefraDeSomation/status/326748437561364481)
("For the benefit of our society")
#MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay) la onte des hommes !!!!
— moômow septhuiit (@momowsepthuiit) April 23, 2013 (https://twitter.com/momowsepthuiit/status/326746635398963203)
("The shame of man")
Moi je dis non au mariage gay ! #MortAuxGay (https://twitter.com/search/%23MortAuxGay)
— ⓃⒾⓉⓇⓄ ✅ 3.1 ™ (@ArchiSuceMoi) April 23, 2013 (https://twitter.com/ArchiSuceMoi/status/326741653555650561)
("I say no to gay marriage")
The debate over gay marriage has rocked France over the past few months, with massive -- and sometimes violent -- protests occurring in the streets.
Indeed, Tuesday night riot police battled with anti-gay protesters (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/relief-in-parliament-contrasts-with-ugly-street-battles-as-rightwing-protest-turns-violent-after-french-gay-marriage-law-clears-last-hurdle-8584957.html) who attacked photographers and journalists, according to The Independent. There have also been reports of anti-same intercourse marriage protesters using human shields (http://americablog.com/2013/04/death-to-gays-hashtag-trending-in-france-following-passage-of-gay-marriage-law-today.html) and using the fascist salute in clashes with police.
The Advocate notes that the country has seen an increase in anti-gay attacks (http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/04/24/happiness-and-hate-all-hell-breaks-loose-france?page=0,2) throughout the past few weeks.
In October, French Twitter users used the hashtag #UnBonJuif (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/16/unbonjuif-twitter_n_1971676.html%5C), which translates to "#AGoodJew," to disseminate a variety of anti-Semitic tweets. The Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF) is currently suing Twitter for $50 million in damages (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/twitter-lawsuit-france-anti-semitic_n_2933472.html) relating to the tweets.
Via: HuffingtonPost